Question 2: Fill in the blanks:
(a) The new castes emerging within varnas were called ____________.
(b) ____________ were historical works written by the Ahoms.
(c) The ______________ mentions that Garha Katanga had 70,000 villages.
(d) As tribal states became bigger and stronger, they gave land grants to __________ and ___________.Answer: (a) The new castes emerging with in varnas were called jatis.
(b) Buranjis were historical works written by the Ahoms.
(c) The Akbar Nama mentions that Garha Katanga had 70,000 villages.
(d) As tribal states became bigger and stronger, they gave land grants to poets and scholars.

Question 3: State whether true or false:
(a) Tribal societies had rich oral traditions.
(b) There were no tribal communities in the north-western part of the subcontinent.
(c) The chaurasi in Gond states contained several cities.
(d) The Bhils lived in the north-eastern part of the subcontinent.Answer: (a) True
(b) False
(c) False
(d) False

Question 4: What kinds of exchanges took place between nomadic pastoralists and settled agriculturists?Answer: Nomadic pastoralists exchanged wool, ghee, etc. with settled agriculturalists for grain, cloth, utensils and other products.

Question 5: How was the administration of the Ahom state organized?Answer: Ahom society was divided into clans called khels. A khel controlled several villages. All adult males served in the army during war. People from heavily populated areas were shifted to less populated places. Peasants were assigned land by the village community.

Question 6: What changes took place in varna-based society?Answer: Within the varna-based society, smaller castes called jatis emerged. Jatis, rather than varna, became the basis for organizing society.

Question 7: How did tribal societies change after being organized into a state?Answer: After being organized into a state, tribal societies gradually got divided into unequal social classes. The leading families joined the ruling class, while the others joined the lower jatis.

Question 8: Were the Banjaras important for the economy?Answer: The banjaras were very important for the economy. They helped traders by working as carriers. At the same time they carried on their own trade and also transported food grains for the Mughal army during their campaigns.

Question 9: In what ways was the history of the Gonds different from that of the Ahoms? Were there any similarities?Answer: The histories of Ahoms and Gonds were different in that while the Gonds were completely annexed by the Mughals, the Ahoms managed to reclaim their independence soon after their annexation. They were similar in the fact that both had risen from being small tribal communities to becoming powerful tribal states that modeled themselves on other centralized kingdoms.